Bluetake BT510 Bluetooth Mouse Review

After reviewing the Logitech MX1000 Laser Cordless mouse about 8 months ago, I happily retired my run of the mill wired mouse to a drawer. I really love the MX1000, but I’m not so enamored that I won’t try something new when it comes along. You never know when something better might be lurking out there. So, whenBluetake asked if I would like to review their BT510, I said sure! Having reviewed their BT500 mouse, I was anxious to see if any of my criticisms would still hold true with this new model.

The BT510 is a two button, scroll wheel, 800 dpi optical mouse. Weighing in at 3 ounces with 2 AAA batteries installed, it is 1 ounce heavier and a bit larger overall than the BT500. It is still smaller than a standard sized mouse, and definitely smaller than my MX1000. In my opinion, this puts the BT510 in the travel mouse category. This holds true as most desktop computers do not have Bluetooth built in, while many notebook computers do.

Left to right: BT500, BT510, MX1000

The style of the BT510 is quite a bit different than BT500. According to Bluetake’s site, this mouse has a new fangled design. In my opinion, it’s just more modern looking. Available in black or white, the mouse is made of shiny plastic with a soft rubber scroll wheel between two buttons which have definite tactile feedback.

I’m not going to go through all the steps necessary to set up a Bluetooth adapter on your computer. This review assumes you already have that setup completed. So, once that process is out of the way, you need only install the 2 AAA batteries into the mouse by removing the upper shell. This is done by sliding the lock on the bottom of the device to the unlock position. The upper shell can then be removed revealing the battery compartment.

Once the batteries are installed and the upper shell snapped back into place, you can then slide the power switch to the On position. When powered on, the optical sensor on the bottom of the mouse glows a bright red. Pressing and holding the connect button next to the sensor will enable the mouse to pair with the computer.

After successful pairing, you’re on your way to using the mouse. As far as mice go, this one is smooth to use and I had no problems using it without a mouse pad. The scroll wheel is very responsive, not sluggish like the previous model. As far as lag or delays, the only thing I’ve noticed is that if the computer has gone into screensaver mode, it will take a few strokes of the mouse before the computer responds. Otherwise, I’ve been happy the performance of this mouse.

A nifty feature of the BT510, is the ability to switch left and right mouse buttons. This is done by holding down the scroll button and either the left or right button for a few seconds. This is great for lefties.

Unlike my MX1000, the BT510 does not have rechargeable batteries or anyway to know how much juice is left in the installed batteries. This was my biggest complaint about the BT500, and continues to be so with the BT510 as well. Bluetake has taken steps to make this issue a little less important, as they have included a detachable USB cable for powering the mouse when the batteries are dead. This doesn’t mean that you can use the BT510 as a USB mouse though… The USB cable is only for drawing power, and nothing else. If you install NiMH cells into the 510, the USB power cable will trickle-charge the cells. Radtech chose to not advertise this fact in the event people would attempt to charge non-rechargeable batteries, which may heat up and swell. So be warned…

Power issues aside, the BT510 is a nice improvement over the BT500. The bigger size makes it a little more comfortable to use for extended periods of time, and the addition of the USB cable ensures that you can use the mouse even after your batteries die. Sixty dollars may be a lot to pay for a small Bluetooth mouse, but if I were shopping for one, this one would be at the top of my list.

Price: $59.95

Pros: Wireless Ability to use USB cable to power device when batteries are not available Small size

One other con I would add, although it falls in under the “Can’t use as a USB mouse”.
It doesn’t support UNIX/Linux. Most of the USB cordless mice work without special
drivers as a standard/default USB mouse. I’ve plugged my Cordless Logitech into
systems using: MacOS, WinXP, Solaris and SUSE linux. But still, it’s an interesting
alternative, if you are USB-port limited.

I bought the BT510 mouse and I intend to use it on my new MAC G4 PowerBook (using OS X ver 10.4.1) However when I use the mouse I cannot put the computer to sleep neither MANUALLY nor with the set time schedule. I tried many things (including disabling the “allow bluetooth devices to wake up this computer” option in the Preferences section.

I also noticed that even though the bluetooth detects the BT510 (and I can use the mouse) however under “Devices” in Bluetooth System Preferences the following is displayed:

This is the dopest f****** mouse I’ve ever had and, I’ve had a lot. I’ve been searching for a decent Bluetooth mouse for years and, I’ve finally found it. I had the Kensington pocketmouse bluetooth, Epox bluetooth mouse, IOGEAR Wireless Bluetooth Mini Mouse, Kensington PilotMouse Bluetooth, Logitech MX900 Bluetooth Optical Mouse, and even the Bluetake BT500. I sold every one because they sucked so bad. I suppose it was due to interference since Bluetooth 1.1 can’t handle that well that caused the mice to be so erractic. Not to mention not very responsive. But, I just got a new Acer F4000 notebook wich has bluetooth 1.2 built-in. And, they include a Bluetooth mouse wich I found worked much better than the ones I had before. I found out it was actually made by HP. But, the problem with it is that it’s huge. Not very practical for a laptop mouse. And, it didn’t slide very smoothly on anything but the very slickest mouse pad. Enter the Bluetake BT510. None of the pictures I’ve seen even begin to do it justice. Especially the ones on Bluetake’s site. They make it look like the mouse is *flat* black. Not so. It’s a very glossy black and, it looks beautiful. Also, you can’t really see the shape of the mouse in the pictures. In person, the shape is downright awesome. Besides the aesthetics, this mouse is perfect. It has an on/off switch which is a nice feature that a lot of wireless mice don’t have especially the older ones. It’s nice and compact which is good for travelling with your notebook. But, unlike some other mice like the IOGear bluetooth, it’s not too small. It feels great in your hand. Very comfortable. Even the scroll wheel feels just right unlike many other mice. Also, unlike the giant HP mouse that came with my notebook, it’s very slick on the bottom. It slides smooth on any surface. Last but not least, it’s one of the very few Bluetooth mice that I’ve been able to find that support Bluetooth 1.2. The only other one I found was the Targus one which I’ve ordered but haven’t received yet. It looks ugly as sin in the pictures though. However, I ordered the Toshiba OEM one which looks a little better since it’s in Black and silver. Anyway, with the Bluetooth 1.2, the BT510 works perfectly. No delays or erratic behavior. Oh, and one more thing, it has a switch left/right buttons feature which for me being left hand is a godsend. It’s much better to be able to change it hardware wise than using the mouse control panel. The reason is that the control panel peferences generally affect all mice. This is an annoyance when you use multiple mice especially one on the left and one on the right which I do often. So, if you change the buttons on one mouse in the control panel, it screws up the other mouse that’s on the other side. Don’t listen to what this other guy said about Linux. The hp mouse that came with my notebook was automatically recognized and configures by SuSE 9.3. It just worked. I expect there will be no difference with this mouse. I realize it’s not always that easy to set up a bluetooth mouse in Linux. But, my example shows that it can be. Buy this mouse, you won’t regret it!!! Of course, the one other advantage is that, if you have built-in bluetooth you don’t need a dongle to use it. This is a huge advantage over RF mice. PS – This mouse matches my black Acer F4000 notebook perfectly.

After reading your review I agreed that it is a pity the enclosed USB power cable doesn’t allow recharging rechargeable batteries.
So I wrote to Radtech suggesting that they allow this in a future version.
They replied:
“Actually, this functionality is already there Herve. If you install NiMH cells into the 510, the USB power cable will trickle-charge the cells.
We chose to not advertise this fact in the event people would attempt to charge non-rechargeable batteries, which may heat up and swell.”
I checked in the product instructions available here and yes it is documented.
This is great news because as far as I know, this feature makes the BT510 the first BT mouse that can be recharged without using a bulky adaptor, right from the computer itself.
Julie: May I suggest this be corrected in the review, as it makes a great difference in the product features list?
blasjw: can you try this if you have rechargeable batteries at hand and let us know?

I'm currently working on a review of the Fitbit Charge 2. The Charge 2 is an updated version of the Fitbit Charge HR that I reviewed last year. It combines the smaller sized wrist wearable looks with the features of the Fitbit Surge. Stay tuned for my review coming soon.